In a Moment
by gingersandbowties
Summary: Post-Pascal's Triangle Revisited, mostly set during season two. After they kissed, things got a little heated - Jeff and Annie ended up back in Jeff's apartment, and one thing led to another. Three months on and he's been avoiding her all summer, but maybe her reasons for contacting him were more important than he first assumed.
1. Chapter 1

No texts.

No calls.

That one time when she happened to bump into him at the mall? He was diving into the nearest store before she could even work out where he'd gone.

Was Jeff Winger being a lowlife jackass? Kind of. But she was _nineteen_.

It had been a mistake; they'd both said as much the following day as she was leaving his apartment - he'd just been caught up in the whole Britta/Slater love triangle, and she was struggling to deal with almost going to Delaware.

He'd never meant to _sleep _with Annie Edison.

* * *

_May 2010_

They pulled apart, and a disbelieving laugh tumbled from her lips. The noise Jeff made was a low rumbling chuckle; it came from the back of his throat, and didn't really suggest he was amused at all. Turned on? Maybe a little. But amused? No. Definitely not.

But in that moment, his brain wasn't doing the sensible thing; it wasn't screaming 'she's nineteen, you creep!' at him because it was too distracted by Annie's doe eyes and the smell of Annie's strawberry shampoo and Annie's boobs and all things Annie Edison.

So, technically, it was all Annie's damn fault.

His brain didn't tell him it was wrong when he suggested they take things to a more private place (Kissing in the parking lot when the rest of the student body was still inside the building? Not a smart move).

His brain didn't tell him it was wrong when he pulled the Lexus into the parking lot of his apartment complex and he opened the door for her.

His brain didn't tell him it was wrong when he offered her a drink - and then another, and then another.

His brain didn't tell him it was wrong when her dress fell to his bedroom floor and his breath caught in the back of his throat.

And his brain didn't fucking tell him it was wrong when she was screaming his name and begging for more.

No, the sheer 'wrongness' of the situation came the morning after.

When he woke up he was in a haze; his eyes didn't open all the way, and his mind wasn't fully adjusted to actually being awake yet. He was vaguely aware of a body snuggled against him, and he could feel a nose gently nuzzling into his abs. It was nice. Jeff Winger didn't do cuddling; he didn't do mornings after, and he didn't do making girls breakfast - on any normal day, if he woke up with a woman still in his bed, he would have slipped out quietly, and hid in the bathroom until he was sure she'd left of her own accord. But something made him pull the tiny body in tighter, made him sniff her hair and smile contently.

There was something so perfect about waking up next to - fuck.

Annie.

Fucking _Annie_.

Shirley was going to kick his ass. And he didn't even want to imagine Britta's reaction to this (Hadn't she said that she loved him like yesterday? Shit). Annie's parents were probably going to call up some TV show or website or _something_ and have him labelled as a creepy perv. Everyone at Greendale was going to look at him differently and...Oh God, would he even be able to keep going there? He was only at Greendale in the first place to get the credits he needed to return to the firm. How bad was it going to look if he couldn't even complete a few years at a fucking community college? Shit.

He untangled himself from the sleeping brunette, silently cursing as he prayed she wouldn't stir from her sleep. She looked peaceful; innocent even, and it only made Jeff feel _more_ guilty.

If he'd banged a nineteen year old on a regular night, maybe he wouldn't have felt so bad about it; there was no law against it, and if he could bag someone 12 years his junior he definitely had many good years left in him.

But Annie? Fuck, well, she was _Annie_. Sweet, innocent Disney-faced Annie. Sure, she could be devious, and her lips seemed to have some freaking power over him, but she was still Annie Edison. Nineteen year old Annie. A _child_. Fuck.

Coffee. He needed coffee. Hell, Annie probably needed coffee too, but that was fine right? She'd probably be embarrassed about this whole thing; she'd be too awkward to talk about any of it and he could just act like nothing had happened. It was perfect, the plan was foolproof, there was no way -

She was standing in his living room, hair tousled, wearing _his_ shirt (And nothing else, if he had to guess), beaming at him like he wasn't a creepy, twisted perv who would be beaten and kicked out of Greendale if he ever so much as looked at her again.

"Hey!"

She looked so happy. _Why_ did she look so happy? She had to know as well as he did that this was all totally wrong, and as soon as she realised she was going to break down and suddenly...Kiss him? Jeff pulled back in surprise as her lips briefly pressed against his, but by the time he had a chance to react in any way at all, she was already busying herself making two cups of coffee.

"Ummm."

For what felt like the first time in his life, words failed Jeff Winger and he just stared at the woman before him. No no no, not woman. _Child_. Definitely a child - that was what made all this so terrible, after all.

"Annie, maybe we should talk about all this. What happened last night-"

Oh God was she blushing? Why did she have to look so fucking _happy _about all of this?

Jeff Winger didn't want to have to play the jerk; he didn't want to break yet another heart (He figured he'd kind of already broken two the previous day, what with walking out after having not one, but _two_ women confess their love to him) but apparently she'd left him no choice.

Quick and painless, right? Like a bandaid. He wasn't quite sure if the same thing applied to lovestruck nineteen year olds, but he figured it was worth a shot.

And if the worst came to the worst...Well, he'd figure something out.

* * *

The wounds were still fresh, as far as Annie was concerned.

The conversation played itself over and over again in her head, even a few weeks on. It was like there was no escaping it and no avoiding it and no way of pretending like it never happened.

_"It was a mistake, Annie."_

_"R-Right. Duh doi. I'm not a kid, Jeff. It was...It was just sex. No big deal, right?"_

She'd been lying through her teeth, and she figured he'd realise, figured he'd see right through her and tell her that he was a jerk and that she was completely wrong and hey why didn't they give it a shot?

But instead he'd just sighed in relief and suggested that maybe she head home and get cleaned up.

And naturally Annie had cried in the car on the way home, and then in the shower, and then as she sat on her couch watching _Top Model_ reruns while brutally attacking a tub of Ben and Jerry's.

Jeff Winger was the first person she'd slept with since her high school boyfriend; the only person she'd slept with and thought it might actually mean something (Considering her high school boyfriend had dumped her two days after they'd slept together, and come out of the closet less than a week later...She'd never really seen that going anywhere), but as per usual he was being a shallow jackass.

But she wasn't going to call him, no sir. She wasn't going to send him any a single text or email or Facebook message or whatever the Hell else he'd expect from her. She would make this a clean break, and when she saw him in September everything would be totally fine and he'd think she'd completely moved on from him and he'd be destroyed and then he would come running to her. It was a foolproof plan. Wasn't it?

* * *

It was three weeks before he had to start ignoring her calls, deleting her texts and avoiding her in public (Why did Greendale have to be so God damn small, damn it).

Jeff honestly didn't know what to say to her, and he figured it would be a lot easier to just see her again with the rest of the group after the summer was over. There'd be less pain within him her by then, and with the full group around there'd be a lot less reason to be awkward.

If she'd managed to go three weeks without contacting him, he was sure she could wait another nine.

So, it was settled. No more Annie until the first day of the new semester. It was the perfect plan, he'd be out of her system by then...And she'd be out of his.

* * *

She hadn't planned on contacting him. She'd vowed to herself that she'd wait until the first day of the new semester by which point he'd be so desperate to see her, he'd probably take her to a supply closet to make out with her or something.

But then the little blue plus symbol had appeared on the piece of plastic in her hands and Annie knew she was well and truly fucked.

Talking to Jeff was pretty much vital by this point...So why wouldn't he answer his freaking phone?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So I completely forgot to write an author's note at the beginning of the first chapter, oops. Anyway! I have a lot of free time at the moment I'm hoping to update this quite frequently, this chapter isn't all that long, but I'm trying to slowly build into things. Reviews certainly keep me excited to write stories, so review where you can! I'm so excited that people are following this story already, so thank you for that!**

* * *

The laugh which tumbled from Annie's lips was strained at best. Luckily for her, Abed - despite being Abed - didn't seem to notice anything was off in the way she laughed. Or notice that anything was off at all.

Or at least, if he did, he didn't comment as such.

Instead he simply read the OldWhitemanSays Twitter page over her shoulder, working things through in his mind.

Annie seemed sad, he noted. There was something about her expression that told him she was hiding something from him...And was she wearing even tighter cardigans? It wasn't like Abed had _meant_ to look at her breasts, but he was a male, and regardless of what people seemed to think about him he still had the eyeballs to ogle.

But it wasn't like he was intentionally staring for his own personal gain. No, he was trying to figure something out - was she wearing tighter cardigans for Jeff? There was a lot of unresolved sexual tension there, as far as he could see. He would certainly enjoy their romance more than Jeff and Britta - it was unexpected, a classic season two twist.

But Annie had only recently broken up with Vaughn. And Jeff was, well, Jeff. So maybe his new ideal study group romance wouldn't play out.

But the cardigans -

Was that a stain?

Abed blinked rapidly once, twice, three times. The stain was tiny, and it was clear that Annie had washed or scrubbed at it a good number of times since its discovery. But to his trained eyes...It was strange.

The cardigan wasn't new. And yet she was busting out of the thing.

Well, it appeared Abed had some investigating to do. Whatever was going on here seemed interesting enough to make it into the next episode of Community College Chronicles, after all.

* * *

He was a jerk.

A selfish, jaded jackass.

There was no way the group was going to let him back in, was there?

He'd walked out of the Tranny Dance after Britta had declared her love for him, and then he'd slept with Annie and ignored her for the better part of three months.

That was two out of the three women in the study group he'd successfully hurt over the summer. So he wasn't expecting to be welcomed with open arms.

Abed. Troy. Shirley. Pierce.

The four of them were congregating in the study room, with two members of the study group clearly missing. Crap, had he caused them both to leave? He'd kind of been hoping he could avoid all awkwardness and have them both pretend like nothing had happened. Apparently that wasn't going to be the case.

He opened his mouth to make some sarcastic remark regarding the whereabouts of the two women when he watched them enter the room. Together.

Well that was new.

Jeff was half expecting Slater to follow closely behind, like all the women he'd recently hurt had formed some kind of little Anti-Jeff Winger group. Luckily for him that didn't happen.

He received a glare from Britta, but more unexpectedly than that Annie didn't even look at him. In fact, she was looking anywhere _but_ at him. The notion of Annie avoiding him unnerved Jeff despite the fact he'd been doing the exact same thing to her for the last few months - sure he'd been a dick, but he'd kind of expected things to return to normal on their first day of classes. Could she really ignore him forever?

* * *

She'd successfully avoided him for the best part of the day.

When the study group had met up in Study Room F that morning she'd barely even looked at him; when they'd all traipsed off to their first classes of the day, she'd sped off with Britta to avoid having him even attempt to talk to her. Dealing with everyone telling Britta how brave she was and what an asshole Jeff Winger was made Annie's throat dry, but luckily for her she'd mastered faking smiles over the years.

During Anthropology they sat at opposite sides of the classroom. At lunch, Annie managed to finish before she even saw Jeff enter the cafeteria. All in all the whole 'avoiding' thing was working out for her, but she knew it was nigh on impossible to avoid him forever. Besides didn't she kind of have to tell him sooner rather than later?

Everything seemed perfectly fine and simple until the end of the day drew nearer. Study group meetings meant avoiding his gaze and pretending everything was okay, but that wasn't too difficult. It meant that she could actually study, rather than spend 99.9% of her time sharing stolen glances with stupid Jeff Winger.

And studying was working out perfectly well for her, she was zoned out of the conversation almost entirely and - had Shirley mentioned something about Jeff and Britta?

Annie's eyes shot up and she looked at the two women speaking, attempting to recall everything that had been said in the last five minutes.

Jeff and Britta. Sleeping together. In the study room. During paintball.

Paintball.

Paintball which had been exactly two weeks before the Tranny Dance.

God, she was going to hurl.

"Jeff and Britta? During paintball?"

Her voice was soft at first, but as she rose to her feet she could feel her body shaking. Upset? No. Angry.

Was punching someone acceptable when it turned out they were an absolute asshole?

* * *

Naturally, Jeff was playing Bejewelled. With Annie ignoring him and everyone heading the 'Britta-is-so-fearless!' committee, he felt it was best to keep his head down and pretend he was super fine.

And it had been working a treat for him. It was normally only ever one of the two women who would declare that he was wasting his time on his Blackberry, and he should probably join in the study session. And of course that wasn't going to happen today.

He heard a brief silence and then the scraping of chair legs. Was the study session over? Well _finally_.

Without so much as looking up from his phone he rose from his chair - just in time to feel a tiny but _freaking powerful_ fist collide with his face.

"Shit, Annie. Watch my ph-"

But his phone had already hit the floor. And the tiny brunette with fists of steel was certainly not done yet.

"You slept with her right before you slept with me? What the _Hell_, Jeff?"

Well.

Crap.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I usually give up on stories after about a chapter, but I've managed to write three within 24 hours and I'm super eager to start writing the fourth. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I'm really enjoying writing this story and it's good to know that people are enjoying reading it, too! So thanks for that, keep reading and reviewing - it means a lot! 3**

* * *

Honestly? Jeff had kind of expected everyone to pounce on him at once. He was expecting a lynch mob and a dozen more punches from the six people standing before him.

He certainly wasn't expecting absolute silence.

Annie looked hurt. Britta looked pissed. Shirley looked like she was ready to kill. Troy looked shocked. Pierce looked confused. And Abed? Well, Abed looked like he was enjoying the show - and he probably was. To Mr 'Our Life is a TV show' this was probably the best fucking thing that could have possibly happened.

It felt like no-one had said anything for hours, and Jeff honestly didn't want to be the one to break the silence. Of everyone there, he was probably the only one who should be saying something; he should be defending himself, explaining this was all some huge mistake.

So he would.

He'd open his mouth and he'd explain that yes he slept with both Britta and Annie but he hadn't meant to hurt them. He hadn't told either of them it meant anything, and although he really was a selfish jerk, he technically hadn't done anything wrong.

What he _actually_ said?

"I'm sorry."

And he freaking mumbled it, without sounding sorry at all.

The staring continued, and Jeff kind of wished he could return to his game of Bejewelled. But his God damn phone was on the God damn floor and he wouldn't be surprised if it was smashed. And whereas he kind of deserved the punch, his phone certainly didn't deserve the damage.

"Listen. Okay, yes, I slept with Britta and then two weeks later I slept with Annie. But it's not like either of them complained at the time!"

He really wasn't helping himself. The words were practically spilling out of his mouth of their own accord, and he could do nothing to stop them.

"It's not like I planned for this to happen. But I'm not going to apologise for having sex with two hot women - okay, well, technically I just did. But that's because..."

He had to get out of there. He was trying his hardest to brush it off as nothing, but he was still well aware of the fact that Annie was nineteen; well aware of the fact he was in deep shit for this.

* * *

One of the things Jeff had said the morning after they'd had sex was ringing through Annie's head as she stared at her friends, feeling more judged than she ever had in her life (And as someone who'd had a mental breakdown and ran through a glass door screaming about robots...That was saying something).

_"If anyone were to ever find out about this, I would be tarred, feathered and put on one of those websites people check when they're buying a house."_

"Because of what, Jeff?"

She knew. They all probably knew. He'd apologised because he felt guilty, because she was nineteen and he felt like a creep. But that just wasn't fair on her.

Annie wasn't some child who had felt like she needed to have sex with an older man just to prove something to the world. She wasn't a child at all, in fact, and she hadn't had sex with Jeff to prove anything, she wasn't _that_ kind of person.

When Annie had returned to Greendale campus after almost leaving for Delaware, she'd had one thing on her mind: Jeff Winger. Whereas she might have felt like she belong at Greendale, and she needed the study group around her, she hadn't been able to imagine being hundreds of miles away from Jeff.

Of course, she'd never said any of this out loud, especially to him, but there was something about Jeff that had made her want to return, and she'd slept with him because...Well, because she wanted him; she needed him and she wanted him, and even though Annie Edison didn't 'just have sex', in the moment it had felt like the right thing to do.

And now there he was admitting that he was 'sorry' that he'd slept with her because she was only nineteen. And that almost hurt more than being ignored for three months, it really did.

"Because I'm 19?"

They hadn't been drunk and whereas he could just write it off as a mistake, Annie didn't want to think of it that way. Everything was such a mess, and she really didn't know how to jump from this point to the point she actually needed to make...Especially with everyone standing around watching them.

God, this was messed up.

But this was it. She was going to do it; she was going to tell him, what did it matter if the group were around to witness it? It wasn't like they could do anything about it, and they wouldn't be mad at _her _for it.

"I'm not a child, Jeff. In fact-"

* * *

He needed some fucking air.

Annie had to bring up the age thing, didn't she? That was the problem, and that would always be the problem; she was nineteen, he was thirty-one, and he didn't want to come across as some creep. He needed to cut her off before she said something he didn't want to hear; he couldn't think of anything that would make up for the age thing, so he wasn't going to give her a chance to even finish whatever the fuck she thought would make it better.

"Annie. We'll talk later, okay? I need some air."

"Please Jeff. This can't wa-"

"Oh, I'm sure it can."

He was being a massive dick and part of him couldn't figure out why the other five members of the group couldn't just intervene and stop Annie from saying whatever it was she was going to regret.

But no-one was fucking helping and he couldn't deal with this.

He didn't even look back as he left the study room.

* * *

Annie was crying in the bathroom when Britta found her.

And honestly? Britta was a little surprised. Sure, Jeff had been a massive asshole, but Britta honestly didn't think Annie would be _that _affected by it.

"Annie...I know that Jeff Winger is the world's biggest tool, but is he really worth crying over?"

Britta had heard the story about Annie's gay high school boyfriend; she knew she hadn't exactly given her virginity up to Jeff, so what was the big deal? Sex was sex. Girls could have meaningless sex if they wanted to, it wasn't just a guy thing. And Britta was just about to get into a rant about that when she saw Annie nodding feebly.

"Oookay, well what's the big deal? If you're embarrassed that you had sex with him there's no need to be. Plenty of people have sex that doesn't-"

"I'm pregnant."

What. The. Fuck.

Okay, Britta certainly hadn't seen that one coming. Jeff Winger was like the freaking king of condoms; the amount of sex he had, Britta figured he probably had a draw full of them.

Unplanned pregnancies were people on Jeff Winger's list of biggest fears...Knocking up his _nineteen _year old friend? Yeah, he was going to freak.

"And you're sure it's-"

"I didn't sleep with Vaughn, Britta. Or anyone. Unless my high school boyfriend got me pregnant and it's just catching up with me now, it's definitely Jeff's." The brunette was sniffling, looking at her friend for support, but Britta really didn't know how to give her any.

Despite what she may have said at the Tranny Dance, Britta knew that she didn't love Jeff, but that didn't make this situation any easier.

And with a life as planned and organised as Annie Edison's? She didn't imagine Annie was finding this very easy, either.

"How long have you known?"

" I found out after three weeks. It was a little soon for things to be _completely _accurate, but I hadn't been feeling great. When the test was positive I went to my gynaecologist, and she just confirmed it. I tried texting Jeff and calling Jeff and going to Jeff's apartment, but he avoided me all summer."

After a short pause, Annie realised she hadn't answered the question at all.

"So about nine weeks."

"Jesus, Annie."

* * *

In the parking lot, completely unaware of anything, Jeff stood by his Lexus, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Did Annie have to just blurt it out like that? He understood that she was mad, but still. Now the entire group were going to think he was a heartless jerk (And even though he was, that didn't mean he wanted it advertising).

But he supposed she was right: they needed to talk.

And if she was going to keep running her mouth like that?

Sooner was probably a lot better than later.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Super short chapter, but I think (Or at least I hope!) it works a lot better this way. The next one will hopefully be longer to make up for it. Thanks for all the reviews so far! **

* * *

"Annie."

"I'm busy, Jeff."

He'd been trying to catch her ever since she walked out of the bathroom, but it seemed she was still mad at him. It wasn't like he could blame her, all things considered, but he'd kind of figured she wanted to speak with him just as much as he wanted to speak with her, if not more so. But it was like she couldn't even meet his gaze, and considering all the long looks and stolen glances they'd share in the past? That kind of stung.

"Seriously Annie? We need to talk, I know I've been a dick but now you're just being...Childish."

"Fine, you wanna talk? Let's talk. But don't you _dare_ call me childish after avoiding me for three months, Jeff - if anyone here is childish, it sure as Hell isn't me."

She knew fine well that they needed talk, she needed to tell him once and for all and that wasn't going to happen if they kept avoiding each other.

The problem? She didn't want to talk to him anywhere he could freak out and leave, or where they'd have an audience. Did she want anyone watching them? Not in a million years. This wasn't news for anyone outside of the study group yet, let alone the Twitter-verse (So maybe not Pierce either, then).

"Can we head back to your place?"

* * *

The drive to Jeff's apartment was long, painful and silent. It wasn't like the last time they'd done it; they weren't both desperate to tear the other's clothes off, and the only thing they were feeling in the heat of the moment was nervous.

There was an awkwardness clinging to the air when they reached the apartment, and neither one of them seemed to want to speak first. It wasn't like Jeff Winger to be like this; he had a way with words, Abed seemed to think his 'Winger speeches' were a thing of wonder.

And yet words were failing him.

What was it about this God damn teenager that made him so lost for words?

No nineteen year old should have that effect on a grown man, but Jeff Winger had to admit he was powerless to those damn doe eyes - God help whoever ended up with her, one flash of the Disney face and there would be _absolutely no way_ to say no.

"Alright, Annie, we agreed the whole...'Us' thing was a mistake, we said we weren't going to talk about it, because it was a onetime thing between two adults who really needed a little bit of comfort. And, honestly, that's all it was. I get that you're nineteen, and in your head everything is some dumb romance novel or stupid movie, but that's not real life. Having sex doesn't magically mean we're going to fall in love and-"

"I'm pregnant."

He stopped short.

Well that was...Unexpected?

All the air seemed to have gone from the room and Jeff honestly thought he was going to hurl.

This was some kind of joke right? Annie was getting back at him for being such an ass in the worst way possible.

He attempted to laugh but the noise was strained and almost manic.

_God, is it hot in here?_

Was this her way of telling him to never ignore her for three months ever again? It was just cruel. And there was no way in Hell it could be true, right? Jeff Winger always used protection, so he must have...

Right?

Right.

...Right?

Maybe he was freaking out just a little bit.

* * *

It hadn't come out the way she'd wanted it to.

Annie had wanted to have a long talk with him explaining everything, which would _eventually_ lead to her admitting the truth.

Did that happen?

No, because as per usual Jeff Winger was being an insensitive jerk.

His freaking out didn't make Annie feel any better, and all she could do was shift uncomfortably on the couch as she watched him squirm in silence.

"This isn't some kind of joke, Jeff. I've taken multiple tests, I've been to see my gynaecologist, I've done everything possible to ensure that I'm getting an accurate result here. You're the only person I've slept with in the last year and a half, and I'm twelve weeks along. There's no 'ifs' or 'maybes' here; this is why I've been trying to contact you all summer, I thought that-"

He couldn't let her finish.

This was real.

This was really fucking happening.

He needed some air.

He needed some _alcohol_.

Annie was still talking, but he wasn't listening. He couldn't listen, he couldn't deal with this right now.

He rose from the couch and within a matter of moments Annie was left alone in Jeff's apartment with nothing but the sound of a slamming door and her own feeble whimpers.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry this took a while, and isn't the best. I haven't been feeling great for a few days, but I tried to write something. Hoping to get a few more chapters done over the next week or so, as I'll be away throughout July. I'll try to fit in a few updates before then, though! Thanks for your lovely reviews so far.**

* * *

As expected, L Street was quiet. It was too early in the day for anyone with any sense to be hanging round which left Jeff and a couple of lonely old drunks in the corner.

God, was this really what his life had become?

He was hiding out in a bar in the middle of the day with a bunch of sad old losers for company? Even Pierce wasn't this lame.

And he couldn't even enjoy his fucking scotch.

He'd been nursing the thing for the last twenty minutes; raising it to his lips to take a sip, then lowering it again before it even touched his mouth. He hadn't planned to feel guilty about bailing on Annie but he kind of did.

Because honestly? Bailing at the first mention of children made him one thing. Bailing at the first mention of children made him _his father_.

If there was one thing Jeff Winger loathed, despised and vowed to himself he would never, ever be it was his deadbeat father.

When he was younger he'd always wondered how the Hell anyone could walk out on their own kid...And now he'd just done the exact same thing before the child was even born. Well crap.

He wasn't ready for this, he'd be amazed if Annie was ready for this and it certainly wasn't conventional...But it wouldn't hurt him to at least talk to her, right?

It was probably a good thing he'd barely touched his scotch because the ride home was going to be nerve wracking enough without alcohol in his system.

* * *

Throughout the time Jeff had been gone, Annie hadn't moved once. She was still sitting in the same position on the couch and staring at the same spot on the floor - she hadn't cried, but she could feel herself drawing closer and closer to it.

Was this it then? Was he going to stay away from his apartment until he was sure she would have left, and then avoid her for the rest of his life?

She knew he was a jerk, but she'd never thought he was _that_ much of a jerk.

But apparently Annie Edison didn't know Jeff Winger very well at all, because he'd just walked out and she was fairly certain he wasn't coming back.

That was it then, she should go.

This wasn't home; her home was a crappy, unfriendly apartment above a marital aid store, certainly not the kind of place she should be living in by this point, but what else could she do? Return to her mother?

The thought was almost laughable. Return to the woman who'd thrown her out of her childhood home and say what? 'Hi Mom, remember when I got hooked on pills, had a breakdown and went to rehab and you threw me out because you couldn't handle the shame it brought on our family? Well now I'm 19, at community college and pregnant. Can I come home?'

Worst. Idea. Ever.

If going to rehab was such a terrible thing, Annie didn't want to know how her mom would deal with a teenage pregnancy; it was like it was just one setback after another in Annie's life.

"No, not a setback. This isn't a bad thing, you're going to be fine. You don't need Jeff, you can do this."

There was nothing crazy about giving herself a little pep talk every now and then, right?

She didn't want to view pregnancy as a setback; didn't want to resent a child simply for being unplanned. She didn't want to be her mother, and resenting her child had been what Annie's mom had done best.

The tears were pooling in the corners of her eyes by this point, and she knew it was time to go home.

* * *

Raising to her feet, Annie was surprised to find two large but gentle hands resting on her shoulders. He was saying something but she could barely make out what it was; she could feel Jeff lowering her back onto the couch, murmuring for her to calm down and take it easy.

She didn't even realise she was crying until he told her to stop.

* * *

He knew this was a bad idea. Going back wasn't a bad idea; going back was the best fucking idea he'd had, since he never should have left in the first place.

But going straight to Annie and acting like he hadn't been a dick in the first place? It wasn't going to work; she wasn't an idiot and she was just going to shove it all back in his face. Although, quite frankly, he kind of deserved that.

"We should really talk about this, Annie. I know I freaked out, but that's because it's...It's big. This really isn't something that I was expecting when I woke up this morning, but now here we are. How long have you...You know, known about this?"

She was trying to steady her breathing and control her sobs, but every time she so much as looked at Jeff she was starting again.

Honestly? She wanted to yell at him and tell him to go to Hell for walking out like that but she didn't have the energy. When he tried to wrap his arms around her to calm and control her sobs, she didn't stop him; she relaxed into the embrace, remaining unmoving until her crying died out completely.

"You didn't seem to want to talk half an hour ago."

Her words were weak and feeble, there was none of the venom or bitterness she'd intended to throw at him, and even Jeff found himself wincing slightly at how very...Betrayed she sounded.

Why couldn't he just go back in time and undo that entire fucking night of the Tranny Dance? If he hadn't gone to the stupid pointless dance in the first place neither Britta nor Slater would have confessed their feelings to him; he'd be none the wiser about how either of them felt and Annie...Well, Annie would probably be in Delaware.

He didn't realise how angry the thought made him until it was right there in front of him, screaming to be noticed.

As much as Jeff claimed that Annie was a child; as much as he said he didn't want to be with her, and didn't want to think about her, he really didn't want her to be with anyone else. Especially if that someone was Vaughn.

He was stupid and selfish and jaded, but what was he supposed to do? She was nineteen, but it was hard not to think about her - especially during some very intense shower sessions - since the debate kiss.

Now he'd fucked up everything several times over. Fuck up number one: he'd slept with her. Fuck up number two: he'd managed to get her pregnant. Fuck up number three: he'd avoided her for the entire summer. Fuck up number four: he'd left her alone in his apartment when she'd plucked up the courage to tell him the truth. How the Hell was he meant to come back from all that?

* * *

It felt like hours before either one of them spoke again.

Jeff had given Annie a little while to calm down; he'd made her some hot chocolate, forced her to sit on the couch, and moved about feeling like a stranger in his own home.

"Can we talk? Please? I know I bailed and that was selfish of me but...I bet you, Little-Miss-Day-Planner, weren't exactly 100% calm when you found out about all this? I just needed to breathe. But I'm here now and I'm not going to be an ass."

He was trying to be reassuring; trying to prove himself to her, but this really wasn't the point where he needed to prove himself. No, that would come way later when there were checkups and ultrasounds and appointments and furniture to buy and - oh God, where had all the oxygen in the room gone?

"I know this isn't ideal, but I've thought about it a lot, Jeff. I'm not Shirley and I'm not Britta - I don't think abortion is some unspoken sin, and I'm not going to have a rant about how I have the right as a woman to do what I want with my body. But I've given it some thought and despite the circumstances this is something I want to do, whether you're behind me or n-"

"Whoa there. I may be a commitment phobe with serious Daddy issues - and okay, that doesn't really sound like the best lead in to this conversation, but I'm serious here Annie: I want to help you. Call me a jerk or an asshole or whatever the fuck-" He smiled slightly when she made a small sound of protest at the 'f-word' "-You want, but I'm not just going to abandon you. Our study group is like a _totally screwed up_ little family, right? And family doesn't just walk out on family."

As hard as it was for Jeff to say all of this, it was still 100% true; he meant every single word he said to her. It just wasn't easy.

"Do you want to go home?"

Her nod was silent, and for several moments he felt like he'd said the wrong thing, until he heard her utter the four little words that filled him with immeasurable amount of relief:

"Thank you, Jeff. Really."

* * *

Their little 'you can drop me off here' 'no, I'm taking you to your front door' dance had gone on for about fifteen minutes.

And when Jeff pulled up outside her apartment building, he could see why.

For a few seconds he sat in silence, with the engine still running, wondering how to go about telling her to get the Hell out of that place.

The neighbourhood was one of the worst in the Greendale area, and for Greendale that was really saying something.

On the way over there he was pretty sure they'd witnessed a robbery in progress as well as passing _at least_ three cars with missing parts (He was pretty sure one of them had been missing a door, but he'd been too busy freaking out about driving his Lexus through this part of town to really pay much attention).

He wouldn't want anyone he cared for living here; he doubted he'd even be comfortable with Pierce living here - and that was really saying something - But Annie? Well, she was nineteen. And pregnant. With his child. This was certainly no place for her to be living.

But he figured if she could get something better she would have done that a long, long time ago.

Still, he had to say something. Right?

"Annie...This is a terrible neighbourhood. You need to get the Hell out of here, seriously. I would have said that anyway, but now? Now, you seriously do."

After seeing her apartment building he'd kind of guessed that she didn't live with her parents, and, by the looks of it, they didn't give her any money, either. But he wasn't going to ask her anymore about that now; this wasn't the time or the place for that story.

"And live where, Jeff? With you?"

The question hung in the air and neither one of them spoke for a good few minutes.

Well, he'd really just walked himself into that one, hadn't he?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry this took a little while, I've been busy, sick and totally drained of muse. I decided I should get something up tonight though as my friend is coming over from Miami for a month tomorrow and we're going to London, etc. for a few weeks so it'll be a while until the next chapter. I promise I'll make it a good one and get a few up ASAP once I get back!**

* * *

The inside of the apartment building was even worse than the outside had been.

The creepy guy across the hallway was his first indication that the place was a danger zone - Even more so when Annie had brushed off his concerns, informing him that the guy was just her Landlord. Her _Landlord_? Jesus - and her apartment? Well, hovel didn't even begin to cover it.

This wasn't what he'd imagined Annie's home to be like; it was clean and tidy enough, as was expected, but other than that...It didn't seem very Annie.

He didn't want her living like this; he didn't want her here, especially now he'd done the unthinkable.

But what could he do?

His apartment was a bachelor pad.

It was _his_ apartment, and his alone.

It wasn't like he could force her to move out; he knew she wouldn't accept money towards a better place, and there was no-one else in the study group he could suggest she lived with - Shirley had her kids, Troy was living with Pierce (And there was no way in Hell she was living with Pierce), Abed was living in his dorm, and Britta was...Well, Britta.

"Annie..."

He could think of something. He could come up with some solution, couldn't he? He was Jeff Winger, former lawyer and speech maker extraordinaire. He could convince anyone to do anything...So why was Annie so difficult?

"Just...Don't say anything, okay? I know this sucks and it's not the best apartment in the world but...It's mine. And I can afford it. Just about. I've spent my whole life saving money, and this is all I could afford. I don't have anyone to fall back on, Jeff - my Mom cut me off when I decided to go to rehab, and my Dad...My Dad's been out of the picture for a while. I don't want money, I don't want charity and I don't-"

"Move in with me."

His words seemed to have shocked him almost as much as they had her, and the silence in the room was verging on awkward.

Fuck.

He didn't want to take it back now; he'd made the offer and he didn't want to seem like a total asshole, but he seriously wished he could undo it. His apartment was clean and tidy and he liked organisation just fine, but his idea of organisation was very different from Annie's; they'd get in each other's ways and clash completely.

And how the Hell was he meant to have women over if he had a nineteen year old girl living in his apartment?

This was a terrible idea.

This was the worst idea he'd ever had - and considering a lot of his past mistakes, that was saying a lot.

S_ay no. Say no. Say no._

His mind was silently pleading with Annie, but he knew it wouldn't be to any avail. Annie was an extremely independent person and whatever decision she came to...Well, it would be one she made on her own.

"I don't know, Jeff..."

_Thank God._

"...I'd just be in your way and-"

"You wouldn't be in my way."

What the fuck was he doing?

It was like his brain and his mouth weren't connected at all; he was thinking one thing and coming out with the complete opposite. Maybe he should just leave before it was too late.

But he couldn't keep running away; he could already feel the strain between them, and he didn't want to fuck her over any further.

"I can't, Jeff. It's...We're not...It would be a terrible idea. I don't want to ruin our friendship by-"

"I think our friendship is already ruined enough with all of this crap, Annie."

Okay, he'd definitely said the wrong thing.

He saw half a dozen emotions flash upon her face within a fraction of a second: shock, anger, sadness, betrayal, hurt and finally she put up a defensive front, face remaining blank.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

He cursed himself on the way home.

His hand whacked against the steering wheel a dozen times over, and he could barely even count the amount of f-bombs he dropped before he reached his apartment.

For once, he wasn't going to drink away his troubles and he wasn't going to go and sleep with some random woman to dull his pain.

He didn't want to cry (Like he'd _ever_ cry) and he didn't want to talk to any members of the study group (Did anyone else even know?) which left him with one option.

Grabbing his phone, he hit the only number he had stored to his speed dial.

"Hey Mom, is now a good time to talk?"

* * *

Movie night with Troy and Abed had sounded like both the best and the worst idea in the world when it had been suggested.

But Annie had agreed; she'd driven herself back over to Greendale, let herself into Abed's dorm room and sat through a good few movies.

She didn't start crying until near the end of the second film.

It had taken a while for the pair of them to coax the problem out of her, but eventually she blurted it out and they managed to catch most of it (It wasn't exactly easy when she was in such a hysterical state; even Abed was having difficulty reading her).

By the end of it, though, it wasn't sympathy on offer - Troy had started to blubber slightly too, and Abed? Well of course Abed was being Abed.

"A classic start of season two twist. Jeff started off in pursuit of Britta and as the season progressed it really seemed like that pairing was going to be canonical - it got to the point where Britta was even willing to confess her love for Jeff. It seemed the only other possible love interest for Jeff was Prof-"

"I'm not Jeff's love interest!"

She was too tired to argue with all of his comparisons between real life and television, but that? Well, for some reason that stung.

Really stung.

Annie wasn't Jeff's love interest, and she was never going to _be_ his love interest.

And that thought alone was enough to bring on a fresh batch of tears.

This was going to be a long night.


	7. Chapter 7

**authors note: And I'm back! Sorry it's been a while, things have been crazy busy and I just haven't had the muse. As you can probably tell from this chapter, I haven't quite got it back yet, and this is barely 500 words (of crap, no less). However, I've started planning the next few chapters which I assure you will be longer, more regular and a lot more exciting. Sorry this is so short, I just wanted to get something up ASAP, and I thought it was better to just have a build up! Thanks for all the follows/reviews/favourites!**

* * *

They'd barely interacted with each other for days.

It was taking its toll on the group, but each and every one of them could understand it - even Pierce, to some extent. No one had said anything for the first few days, but now it was getting too much.

Someone was going to have to intervene sooner or later, and naturally that was going to be Shirley.

The rest of the group made crappy excuses to get away from the study session early - follow up surgery for a blind cat, preparing for a new episode of Mad Men, expecting a pre-booked hooker any second now and trying to find somewhere to hide out for the night to avoid Pierce's interactions with said hooker.

'Awkward' wasn't really the first word that sprung to mind; Jeff and Annie simply nodded distractedly and continued staring at the books in front of them (The group weren't sure if they were actually studying at all recently, but if they weren't they'd both perfected the art of passive aggressively staring blankly at books).

It was quiet for about a minute; the trio continued 'studying', and Jeff and Annie continued to obnoxiously avoid one another despite being only several feet away from the other at all times.

But Shirley was soon going to fix that.

"So, you two-"

They'd both expected it.

Annie had been nervously anticipating the 'intervention' for several days already, and Jeff had been preparing several dry and witty comments for when the time came (Most of which would probably melt out of his brain the moment he looked at Annie and the guilt set in).

"Well, you haven't really been talking to each other and the group's noticed..."

Even Shirley was aware that this wasn't the time to start preaching about Jesus; that wasn't what this was for. She just needed to try and give Jeff and Annie a shove in the right direction and make sure everything went the way it was supposed to go.

But which way was it supposed to go? Jeff didn't know, Annie didn't know, and if they were all being honest with themselves neither did anyone else in the group.

Annie had every right to be annoyed at Jeff, but the atmosphere during study sessions was growing ridiculous.

Even Jeff knew that he'd really put his foot in and this was all his fault, but apologising didn't come easy to him - try as he might to find the right words to say to Annie, they just didn't come.

And it was then that it clicked.

He might not have been able to say what he wanted to say, but he could certainly do something to fix all of this.

It was in that exact moment that all of the planning started, and there was no way in Hell that Annie could stay mad at him after all he had planned...he hoped.


	8. Chapter 8

**a/n: I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this chapter, but I finally had some inspiration to continue, so I just went with. Reviews are lovely, lemme know what you think!**

Jeff Winger was a total idiot.

Okay no, that was a complete lie. He knew he wasn't an_ idiot_, but he should never listen to the stupid ideas his brain churned out in the early hours of the morning.

This was the worst idea ever, and Annie was probably going to smack him in the chest and return to ignoring him for as long as she could manage.

It hadn't been too easy to orchestrate the plan and put it all together, and the fact he'd actually gone through with it in the first place was something in itself.

As someone who spent the majority of his time doing all he could to avoid doing just about anything, even he didn't fully understand where this sudden motivation to _help_ had come from.

Maybe that's why the group had been so eager to go along with it.

Or maybe it was because they all cared about Annie more than he'd ever realised.

And _he_ cared about Annie.

It wasn't the first night he'd been up late thinking about her, but usually his thoughts involved little to no clothing, and occasionally Britta made a guest appearance.

Not that he'd admit that out loud. Sleeping with her in the first place was enough to get him in all kinds of trouble, he didn't even want to know how Shirley would react if he admitted to having 'ungodly' thoughts about a nineteen year old girl.

But this time had been different.

When he pictured her, it was nothing to do with her naked body pressed against his, back arched, sweat dripping down her forehead.

This time he pictured her smile. And her stupid big eyes. And the way she screwed up her nose and tried to hide her grin when he said something she deemed to be 'gross' or 'inappropriate'.

He almost smiled, until he realised he hadn't seen any of it in weeks. When he'd actually dared to look at her (He still felt like a total ass, but he wasn't really one to admit it) he was met with glares and scowls or she simply chose to avoid his gaze all together.

He grunted, pulled a pillow over his head and started to wonder when his life became a fucking episode of whatever crap Annie was watching this week. He couldn't deal with all the drama.

* * *

Annie, being Annie, had spent most of her free time researching. Just a few months previously, she'd expected to be looking into grad schools by this point (Well, she couldn't stay at Greendale forever, and it was better to get a headstart on decisions, right?), not hunting down new apartments and researching everything baby related she could possibly think of. She was exactly 14 weeks along, and yet she already had a notebook full of lists in her neat scrawl: male names, female names, everything she was going to need to buy, baby proofing checklists, pregnancy stages, pre-natal classes in the Greendale area and even a list of local pre-schools, since she was being thorough.

On the surface, it may have seemed like she was excited and ready for all the things to come, but there were other words she would use for it.

Like terrified, for instance.

Other than Shirley, she had no one to help her through this. As much as the other members of the group tried, it was clear that none of them knew a thing about preparing for a baby, and with Jeff still being a complete jerk, that left with...absolutely no-one.

Maybe someone a little more insecure than Annie would have called home, even after being kicked out, but there was no way in Hell she was calling her mother about this. She knew without even trying how her mother would react: there would be tutting, unfair comments about how 'typical' it was and how that was 'exactly what happened at community colleges'. Honestly, she would much rather go it alone.

Or with a little help from Jeff.

When her phone buzzed, she jumped slightly, pushing her books and pens to one side. Was this it? Every text she'd received in the last couple of weeks had come with uncertainty and a tight feeling in her chest.

She didn't want Jeff to apologise to her over text, or send her a message and act like nothing had happened, yet she still found herself feeling hopeful.

It was Britta.

She sighed heavily as she grabbed the phone, seeing the blonde's name, rather than Jeff's. They couldn't avoid each other forever.

_mall tomorrow? :-)_

Well, there was no harm in getting out of the house for a few hours, she guessed.

* * *

There was so much riding on this, why had he put _Britta_ in charge? Ugh.

If she messed this up he was seriously going to kill her. Or something.

But she showed up as scheduled, pressed the cold piece of metal into his hand and left with some mumbled comment about how 'this better work cause I was supposed to take my cat in for checkups today' or something. He really didn't care.

Having Annie's key was one thing, but getting into the apartment and getting all of her stuff out in a day was going to be difficult, even with Troy, Abed, Shirley and Pierce's help. It was going to be a _long_ day, considering they hadn't even arrived at the apartment yet and already Troy and Abed had ripped two packing boxes to pieces in order to make wooden swords and shields. Maybe Britta wouldn't be the only one on his 'to kill' list by the end of the day.

* * *

He'd started the nursery the day after Shirley had tried to force him and Annie to talk.

He wasn't really sure _why _he did it, but he kept telling himself it was no big deal. It was just going to be a temporary thing, until Annie could find a better place, and he was going to make that much clear when he sprung it all on her.

There was no way Jeff could have a woman living in his apartment indefinitely, especially with a baby. But he figured he might as well do the nice thing and buy a crib and whatever other crap babies needed.

That didn't explain why he'd painted the walls a pale shade of lilac (Well, it was kind of neutral) but he kept assuring himself it didn't mean anything. She'd probably be gone before the baby was born, anyway.

But he still spent days working on it. He painted the walls and bought the furniture and hung up a mobile and even put a teddy bear in the crib, just for good measure.

But it definitely didn't mean anything. Not in the slightest.

When it came to moving Annie's stuff in, he wasn't sure what to do. It had taken roughly three hours to pack it all up (considering her lack of positions - he guessed due to her living arrangements and lack of money - and the organization throughout the apartment it had taken a lot less time than he'd expected) and get it over to his apartment, but then came the complicated part.

Since this was _definitely temporary_, he guessed he could give her his bed and sleep on the couch for a couple of weeks. He figured it was only fair considering this was all his doing and she probably needed the extra comfort, anyway.

With that settled, he guessed he'd have to find a place for all her stuff. How long could it possibly take?

* * *

Mall trips with Britta used to be fun.

In the past, she'd actually enjoyed herself and usually ended up going home thinking 'we should hang out more' or 'Britta's actually pretty cool'.

This time around, Annie regretted ever sending such an eager reply to the text suggesting they hung out.

Apparently 'we can go where ever you want' wasn't exactly true, as she'd discovered.

The plan had been to start off in Forever 21; she'd wanted to check out the cardigans, and she'd eagerly informed Britta of that fact as they'd started heading in the stores direction.

"Um. Annie."

The brunette had given her friend a blank look, waiting for her to continue. If she was going to go into some rant about sweat shops or whatever other problems there could possibly be with a simple clothes store, Annie was fairly confident that she would simply walk away and leave Britta behind.

The reality was pretty different to what she'd expected.

"Don't you want to shop somewhere...else? You know like a, um, maternity store? I mean, do you think regular sized clothes are going to...fit?"

She gave Annie an imploring look, gesturing towards her, as if that would make it all okay.

Apparently it was the worst thing she could have possibly said _ever_.

There were tears in Annie's eyes, and she was already starting to walk away.

Britta's eyes widened and she inwardly cursed herself. And then Jeff Winger. Why the Hell did she agree to this again?

"Annie, wait up!"

This was going to be the longest afternoon of her life.

* * *

He was acting like, well, a teenage girl. He was worried about her reaction, and he found himself constantly pacing the living room, unable to relax.

When he heard a car door slam, he stopped suddenly, eyes darting towards the door.

Two minutes later, when he heard _'What the Hell is going on, Britta?_' from the other side of his apartment door, he breathed in heavily, pulling the door open before she could say another word.

"Hey."

* * *

It was a few minutes before Annie said anything. Britta had mumbled some excuse about needing to head home, and Jeff had ushered the brunette into his apartment, speaking awkwardly the whole time as he showed her everything that he'd done.

He was pretty sure he'd said 'just until you find your own place' at least twenty-five times in about three and a half minutes, but it was important that he stressed this wasn't forever. Because it definitely wasn't. At all.

"-And I know I've been a jerk lately, but trust me Annie, I'm just...fucking terrified, because I really wasn't expecting this and it's not something I have any experience with. And, okay, I'm going to be honest, it's not really something I _want_ experience with, but I don't want to be an asshole. I actually do want to be there for you. And this...baby."

He struggled to actually say the word, even after all he'd done with the nursery. But it was okay, he figured, because he'd get used to it. It had been a few weeks and his head was still trying to come to terms with the whole thing, but when he was actually around Annie again, he guessed he'd easily get used to it. Probably.

When he showed her the nursery, she cried.

He wasn't really sure what he was meant to do at this point, but he pulled her in for an awkward hug and tried his best not to complain as she sobbed into one of his $200 shirts.

"So...Is this okay?"

"Jeff..."

"If you're going to say that you still can't forgive me and I'm still a total asshole then just-"

"I love it."

"Oh. Well. Good."

"Thank you."

As she hugged him, he couldn't help but grin. This was going to take a lot of getting used to and it would probably take a while to convince her that he wasn't just some huge jerk, but at least for now he was doing something right.


	9. Chapter 9

They quickly fell into a routine.

Within a week, Annie was starting to think that maybe Jeff wasn't such an asshole these days, after all.

He would still avoid talking about the baby all he could, even when she 'accidentally' on purpose left her little notes and lists lying around.

He never paid attention to the words; it was all just diapers and doctors appointments to him.

For the most part, he was treating Annie the same way he always had (he even offered her scotch one night, which led to a half an hour lecture about underage drinking and the dangers of alcohol in pregnancy. He didn't bother asking again).

The attentive side of Jeff came rather out of the blue, but it _really_ didn't take her long to figure out why.

She'd been living with him for about two weeks when she awoke to the sound of the door opening, glancing at the clock to see it was nearing 2am. As the bedroom door itself opened she sat up, groggily, wide eyes trying hard to adjust to the darkness.

"Hey," He slurred.

In response, Annie simply nodded, unable to work out what the Hell he was doing. He was moving towards the bed, and even though it was just Jeff she was starting to feel very vulnerable.

"Jeff, what are you-"

"I wanna be a good father. A _good_ one. Not like my Dad, he sucked. If there was an award for sucking, my Dad would get it. He would. I should be, you know, buying diapers and looking at names and crap."

"You're drunk."

It wasn't a question, and she was trying her hardest to figure out what all of this meant. He'd been drunk before since she'd moved in with him, and last time, when she'd passed him on the way to the bathroom, he'd made a non-committal grunt in her direction and face planted onto the couch.

"She was short and a brunette and she kind of reminded me of you-"

Jeff was talking again, and Annie wasn't sure if she'd spaced out on half the conversation or if his drunken mind was just assuming she knew the full story. It was hard to keep up with him when he was like this.

"-She wasn't as pretty as you, and she wasn't smart or funny and she didn't have those eyes. God, Annie, those eyes. She wasn't you."

Annie was confused. She still didn't have a clue where this was going, or why he'd come and sit on the edge of her bed, drunk or not.

"After we had sex I came straight back here 'cause I realised-"

Her breath hitched in her throat and all the oxygen in the room seemed to disappear. She was well aware that their cohabiting arrangement didn't mean there was anything between them, but it was still painful to hear him telling her about sleeping with other women - he'd never told her the stories in the past, why start now?

"-That she wasn't you, and I know you're only nineteen and I probably seem like a huge creep but it's too late to worry about that now and I'm really drunk but..."

Annie wasn't listening. Her chest was tight and his words were making her feel mildly sick to her stomach.

It was almost 2am, but she couldn't stay there. She needed to get out.

* * *

When she mentioned going out, he felt himself sobering up just a little bit.

His area might have been a thousand times better than hers had been, but there was still no way in Hell he was letting her go out alone in the middle of the night. Even before he'd found out she was pregnant he would have been dead set against it, but now there was more to take into account than just how young and vulnerable she was.

"Annie, don't even think about it. It's two in the morning. You're not going anywhere, are you really going to be this selfish-"

She scoffed at that.

He'd heard the noise from her a hundred times over, but it hurt. He could practically hear the '_you're_ calling _me_ selfish?' in the noise, and the alcohol in his system seemed to stop affecting him immediately.

Crap.

It was getting hard for Jeff. When he'd kissed Annie he'd assumed it was just his confusion about the whole Britta/Slater thing clouding his mind and judgement. When he'd slept with Annie he'd figured they both just needed the comfort of another body, and it had just made sense. When he'd found out Annie was pregnant he'd decided he was a total ass and he was going to die a slow and painful death and be dragged through all nine levels of Hell.

And when Annie moved in with him, and started organising his kitchen cupboards, and leaving him little reminders on the coffee table ('Study meeting at 3 today, don't be late!'), and making sure she TiVo'd any shows he liked if he wasn't home in time to watch them? He kind of forgot she was only nineteen.

But it all became glaringly obvious as she sat there in the dark, staring at him like he'd just betrayed her and everything she stood for. She looked tired, fragile, _young_ and he'd never felt like such a douchebag in his life.

"Look, Annie, it's not...You should go to sleep. You need a lot of sleep, right? Go sleep."

He was still slurring his words slightly, and she noticed.

What she didn't see was the way he looked at her as he closed the bedroom door.

And what he didn't see were the tears slowly building in her eyes as she stared up into the dark, wondering why she'd ever thought this was a good idea in the first place.

* * *

**A/N:** Reviews keep me motivated! xo


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note: **Sorry this took so long! I actually start writing this right after I put the last chapter up, but I lost all muse for awhile. I intended to make this a long chapter, but my brain was refusing to co-operate. Anyway, my chapters will (hopefully) get longer eventually, since the only complaints in my reviews seem to be that my chapters are too short - I promise I'll try to work on it! Thanks to everyone who's read, followed, favourited or reviewed so far, you're all wonderful people!

* * *

It was never mentioned again.

Honestly, Jeff was surprised when Annie didn't ask him about it or try to corner him. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did concern him.

It seemed like that night was long behind him, and clearly it hadn't affected Annie as much as he thought it had.

Maybe she didn't even care. They'd slept together in one stupid, heated moment and now she was _having his kid_ and temporarily living there (he kept telling himself she'd be gone in a month or two, he shouldn't get used to this), but that didn't mean she had feelings for him.

That thought hurt his heart. It shouldn't, God it shouldn't. But it did. As much as Jeff didn't want to admit to wanting her, to wanting anyone, he did.

The first time he fell in love it had to be with a God damn nineteen year old.

And that was a thought he very much intended to keep to himself until it all blew over. Because it would.

It had to.

* * *

As much as she avoided the subject and acted like she 'fine', Jeff had been able to feel the awkwardness overwhelming him whenever he was alone with Annie.

She might not have mentioned his drunken confessions at all and he liked to think she didn't think about them either, but she certainly avoided him as best she could, making claims that she needed to study or work on yet another diorama.

It came as a serious surprise to him when she approached to him the following Saturday morning to ask him for a favour.

And the air in the room seemed to evaporate when she told him what that favour was.

Annie knew he'd probably say no, but she had to ask him anyway. It was stupid and pathetic, but so was the thought of going through it alone.

So far he'd tactfully avoided talking about the baby or anything baby related. Despite seeming mildly interested when he'd actually gone as far as to set up a nursery in his apartment, any feigned interest had now died out.

Sometimes she'd catch him glancing, but she assumed he was just being gross and looking at her boobs, considering they were kind of hard to miss these days.

The idea of him agreeing to go with her to her first ultrasound (she hated knowing she was late to do something, but after an awkward few months of Jeff avoiding her, the twelve week scan just hadn't seemed appropriate - or feasible considering she kind of wanted him there - so sixteen weeks would have to do) was ridiculous. But she had to try.

"If this favour involves doing things, I think I'm going to have to say no. You know how I feel about doing things." He was trying to keep things light, but she didn't seem all too impressed.

This was one of her 'formidable' moments. Her face was nothing but serious, and despite the nerves deep down inside, she was trying her hardest to keep eye contact.

"I have my first scan today, and I was kind of hoping you'd come? We don't have to make a big deal about it, I just want you to come as my friend, because Abed would probably bring his video camera and ask to film my-"

"I'll do it."

* * *

Neither one of them felt all too calm when they arrived in the doctor's office. For Annie, the scary part was being there with Jeff, she was probably going to get emotional and freak out, and she had to be alone with him (properly, this time) for the first time since _that night_.

For Jeff, the scary part was, well, all of it. This was all suddenly becoming very real, and as the doctor was setting up the sonogram, the former lawyer had a strong desire to bail. And, honestly, he probably would have if a tiny hand hadn't sought out his and gripped on for dear life.

His own fear seemed to be mirrored in Annie's eyes, and he allowed himself to hold her hand and relax slightly, smiling as she shivered due to the application of the cold transmission gel.

There was a beat as he tore his gaze away from Annie to look at the ultrasound monitor, and he felt his heart dip momentarily.

There was a part of him that wanted to declare 'that's a baby' like the idiot he'd suddenly become after seeing the moving black and white blob on the screen (okay, he was still Jeff Winger, and it still kind of did just look like a blob to him), but he kept quiet...just in case he choked up instead.

His world stilled at the sound of the heartbeat, and for a second he wasn't sure what he was scared of.

And then it all became very real.

He was caught somewhere between happy and terrified, and he couldn't bring himself to look at Annie again. He could hear her making some kind of noise, but he didn't dare try to work out what she was doing.

Amazingly enough, she wasn't crying.

She was overwhelmed, however, and the doctor's words were hardly going in.

Something about coming back in six weeks, but she never bothered to try and figure out exactly what he'd told her.

* * *

Annie spent the entire car ride home staring at the sonogram picture, like this suddenly made it all a very real thing that neither one of them could avoid forever.

Despite the fact he was driving, Jeff couldn't help but constantly glancing over at her out of the corner of his eye, and he was sure this day had everything okay between them again.

There was no awkwardness between them anymore, she didn't seem mad at him, and maybe the events of the previous week didn't matter now. They could move on from that, be friends, and figure out what the next step was.

It was hard for him avoid baby talk now he'd been with her to the scan, and he was admittedly feeling a plethora of different emotions he didn't even know how to begin to describe.

He'd never wanted to be a father. He didn't want to screw up a kid's life the way his Dad had screwed up his, but maybe this wasn't such a bad thing.

How screwed up could a kid be with someone like Annie Edison for a mother?

He knew he was going to be nervous until the moment the kid was born (and then some) but he made a vow to himself that from this point on he would at least _try_.

He couldn't promise that he wouldn't go and pick up random women at L Street. He couldn't promise he wouldn't say stupid things that would probably cause Annie to cry in her fragile, hormonal state. He couldn't really promise her anything, but he was going to try his hardest to do the right things.

"Annie-"

Jeff wasn't really sure what to say, but he was sure he could cook up some Winger speech to bring her on his side and prove that he wasn't going to be a total asshole.

He wasn't really expecting her to cut him off so tersely, instead.

"I'm still angry at you, Jeff. I took you today because I didn't want to go by myself, but that doesn't automatically mean that we're friends again."

As he parked the car, he watched the brunette get straight out and retreat back into the apartment building without him, in silence.

He was somewhat stunned, that had been...unexpected, and now he really, _really_ didn't know how to make things right.


End file.
